[saket77]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

How did Google Maps rear-end you? It didn't tell you to reverse the car!
I thought you were rear ended by the google vehicles that are roaming around for street photo mapping.

The topic should be 'Google map misguided me', as the responsibility for rear ending while reversing lies very much on the driver, not any equipment (except if you are using reverse view camera, then the camera is to blame). While you are at it, you might as well blame Maruti for not giving metal reverse lamps .

I agree with Ani. I think it just misguided you, towards wrong route, bad & unsafe roads, but I think its unfair to blame google for the broken lamp! Regarding the taping thing, I think better get it replaced. You don't need to claim insurance as the lamp should not cost that high. Definitely lesser than what you will lose as NCB.

And I have got one thing embedded in my mind. Once H.V. Kumar Sir, also called lovingly by our forum members as the encyclopedia of Indian roads, replied to my query where I had quoted a route given my MMI, he said that "Being a good mathematician does not make you a good human being", so don't always rely on MMI. How right he was!

Regards,
Saket

[ontheroad]

Friends, Is there any way to save a track in google map in phone. Recently a bhpn recommended a route which is better than the route recommended by google. I can see that track online. But i need to save that track so that it can be accessable easily and offline. Any lead?

[binand]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Friends, Is there any way to save a track in google map in phone. Recently a bhpn recommended a route which is better than the route recommended by google. I can see that track online. But i need to save that track so that it can be accessable easily and offline. Any lead?

This happens automatically on Android phones - just save the track to your "My Maps" and it should be visible on all phones using the same Google account.

Load the track in Android and then use the Offline Maps feature for offline access (though for A-GPS based routing, it needs a data connection).

[amitk26]

The funny thing I find about Google Maps is when it announces take turne on Asian Highway XX.

When I heard it for first time I was highly confused but after some googling I found that Indian government as per some grandiose agreements have designated some National Highways as asian highway.

It s another matter that border controls ensure that no other Asian apart from Indians can use these and Indians can not go anywhere in rest of Asia using these highways.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by amitk26

It s another matter that border controls ensure that no other Asian apart from Indians can use these and Indians can not go anywhere in rest of Asia using these highways.

If the Highways connect to Nepal / Bhutan; you will be able to drive across the border

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

If the Highways connect to Nepal / Bhutan; you will be able to drive across the border

There is a definite plan connecting up through Myanmar to Kampuchea and further East/ South. Maybe someday it will be possible to drive from Singapore to Turkey overland, through India. Maybe some day they will restart the London- Sydney rally again!!!

[binand]

Originally Posted by amitk26

...Indians can not go anywhere in rest of Asia using these highways.

See: http://www.businesskorea.net/bizkor/...php?nNum=10038

"In 2008, HMIL conducted a unique transcontinental drive from Delhi to Paris in two of its hugely popular i10 Kappa cars to commemorate 10 glorious years of operations in India."

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by amitk26

... when it announces take turne on Asian Highway XX. ...

In the hierarchy of road designations, continental numbers appear right at the top by international conventions. That is why Google Maps picks up the AH number instead of the NH number. Ditto for Europe, where the E (Euro highway) number has priority over, e.g. A (Autobahn) or B (Bundes-strasse) numbers in Germany.

I noticed some peculiarities in Google Maps routing and announcements in a drive from Bangalore to Madurai last week:

* On the onward sectors (Hosur - Salem - Dindukkal ...), the announcements were sometimes AH and sometimes NH. Beyond Salem (it is still NH7 AFAIK), it suddenly started using "Kanyakumari Road / Higway" till Madurai. On the return journey, it announced "Kanyakumari Road" till we entered Bangalore after Hosur

* Twice the announcements took us off the highway onto the service road when there was an overpass over the old crossings. On the service road, it would happily take us through the old crossing, and put us back on the same highway!!! Not once has Garmin (Garmin and MMI maps) erred like that

* Within towns, if you miss a turn, Google Maps routing goes haywire sometimes. Either it will keep trying to take you round and round and bring you back to the same turn you missed, or (since there is no road preference selection) it would take one through roads so narrow they are best used by pedestrians only

* If one pre-plans and takes a printout of the route, Google Maps swamps you with details one can't relate to in a new place at all. The landmarks mentioned are so obscure that you have to park by the roadside to figure out where that landmark is. Once it was "Go past Royal Chips" - which turned out to be a hole-in-the-wall fresh potato chip frying joint halfway along a straight road about 0.5Km long. Another time it was "Turn right after XYZ Training Institute" - this turned out to be a small board hanging on the 2nd floor balcony of a small commercial building. This used to be a problem in US around 2000-01 (no smartphones then). Google still hasn't been able to lick it so far even after 13 years

[binand]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

On the service road, it would happily take us through the old crossing, and put us back on the same highway!!! Not once has Garmin (Garmin and MMI maps) erred like that

Possible that Garmin did not even notice the temporary diversion to the service road. Google's data is continuously updated while MMI/Garmin publishes a certain number of fixed updates per year, no?

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Either it will keep trying to take you round and round and bring you back to the same turn you missed...

I think, if you miss a particular junction, it tries to take you back there for the next km or so, and then it will try to re-route you to your destination.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The landmarks mentioned are so obscure that you have to park by the roadside to figure out where that landmark is.

There was some press coverage at the time Google switched from its previous "turn left after 300m" to "turn left at Royal Chips" - and I think it works better, at least for me.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by binand

Possible that Garmin did not even notice the temporary diversion to the service road. Google's data is continuously updated ...

We were piqued when this happened the 2nd time, so we stopped at a small tea-shop (we anyway wanted a small break) and asked when was the last time the overpass was closed to traffic. "2 years back, saar". When they had done a bit of repairs, apparently!!!

That doesn't speak highly of the "continuously updated" data you are alluding to, does it? BTW, I was using the latest (2013.10) version of Garmin map on a Garmin unit - for comparison.

The essential assumption in navigation routing is that the user needs guidance beyond where they are currently, and the user can see the current conditions. For example, if an overpass is temporarily closed, and the instruction was go over it, the user would be forced off the route being followed by the navigation software. Since this is a deviation (it takes 50-100m at least to sense that), the navigation software should guide the user back to the regular route.

What, then, is the point in putting a predictive instruction forcing the user off the route, by a presumed deviation in the map, when the user can see no obstruction? Traffic density update based navigation relies on dynamic data, not static data. The deviation to service road, based on static information - even if it is 1 month 'new' - is plain dumb.

Originally Posted by binand

... I think, if you miss a particular junction, it tries to take you back there for the next km or so, and then it will try to re-route you to your destination. ...

It persists for a couple of Km. - till it finds a better route. You are not reckoning with the impact of the time it takes to update it's data from the server dynamically. The usual boundary conditions, when all you have is EDGE bandwidth, can result in a data mismatch of a few minutes worth of driving - a couple of Km at least.

Originally Posted by binand

... "turn left at Royal Chips" - and I think it works better, at least for me.

To each his own! Maybe you should evaluate the 'help level' when at night, with no illumination other than car headlamps and no one to ask (rain would be a worse case), you try to figure out where "Royal Chips" is. This was the same problem 12 years back in US. At least with "turn after 300m" you can look down at the odometer to know where the turn could be. If Google has flip-flopped it's way and still not got it after all this time, what can one say!

[binand]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

That doesn't speak highly of the "continuously updated" data you are alluding to, does it? BTW, I was using the latest (2013.10) version of Garmin map on a Garmin unit - for comparison.

But how do the others do it? I am sure there is no "authorized" source of this kind of data - so they all have to actually drive over the roads or resort to crowdsourcing. I recall two instances - one, when the new flyovers between M'halli and Iblur were inaugurated, Google Maps had them marked almost the next day and two, when the road from Yemalur to Bellandur was closed for BWSSB works, it went off the directions list probably the next day itself.

So my conclusion is that it might take a tad longer for out-of-metro roads to be updated, but the continuous updates of Google works far better than twice-year of Garmin/MMI.

[anuragn]

Originally Posted by binand

So my conclusion is that it might take a tad longer for out-of-metro roads to be updated, but the continuous updates of Google works far better than twice-year of Garmin/MMI.

I sort of dont agree.
If any road is temporarily closed, say for a couple of months and I have to take a small diversion, still I wont get lost because generally the point of re-entry to the main road would be visible or they would have put some road signs or I would be able to follow other vehicles ahead of me.
The point here is that I wont get lost due to small diversions, so its immaterial whether it is updated on daily basis or not.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by anuragn

I sort of dont agree.
If any road is temporarily closed, say for a couple of months and I have to take a small diversion, still I wont get lost because generally the point of re-entry to the main road would be visible or they would have put some road signs or I would be able to follow other vehicles ahead of me.
The point here is that I wont get lost due to small diversions, so its immaterial whether it is updated on daily basis or not.

Not the case when bridges are closed. You might end up traveling 3-4 km extra with offline gps

[honeybee]

I believe apart from the ability to save the maps offline and the detail level of the maps, another important factor to consider is the GPS capability of the device. Surely the dedicated GPS devices must be able to latch onto a satellite faster than an ordinary mobile phone. However I must say mobile phones are bound to catch up.

I successfully used the Galaxy S Duos on my trip to Ankola, Karnataka. We even visited the local beach there. Throughout the journey, just once - after entering the Ankola village - did we have to ask for directions.

Prior to that on our Ashtavinayak trip I used the Nokia Maps and it too was accurate along with a reasonably good GPS.

While the situation may be in favour of dedicated GPS devices today, the GPS device in the car needs to be powered all the time. It cannot work on its own battery pack, like a mobile phone. Also if you are on foot or on bicycle, or even travelling by a cab, a mobile phone provides easy directions, not possible with a GPS device.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I believe apart from the ability to save the maps offline and the detail level of the maps, another important factor to consider is the GPS capability of the device. Surely the dedicated GPS devices must be able to latch onto a satellite faster than an ordinary mobile phone. However I must say mobile phones are bound to catch up.

That's not a factor at all. I always find my GPS on galaxy Note faster in connection than the dedicated GPS of MapmyIndia. With Google maps around, dedicated gps has become completely irrelevant for me now.